


Doragon No Me

by Sephie666



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Canon, Dragons, Drama, F/M, Gaara will get lovings, Gen, Humor, New race introduced, Non-Emo Duckass Sasuke, Non-Weak Sakura, Not gonna lie probably will end up Kakashi/OC, Romance, Slightly mature Naruto, Takes place at beginning of anime
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-18
Updated: 2017-01-10
Packaged: 2018-08-09 14:37:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 19,970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7805683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sephie666/pseuds/Sephie666
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Something is found in the tunnels that run under the Hokage mountain in Konoha. Something that will greatly change everything.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> As I'm sure many of you have seen, this work is also on fanfiction.net. I decided to bring it over to the lovely Archive of Our Own site because I have gotten quite bored with fanfiction.net. This is my first time posting on this site, so I beg of you to be gentle with reviews. I mean, tell me if something's fucked up or if the story is just complete shit, but I hate just plain flaming. If you have something to critique about, please do so in a logical and well-written manner. Now that that is done, I don't own Naruto or any of the lovely characters involved. Please enjoy and review to your heart's desire.

A disturbance registered through my mind. In a state of disconcerted awareness, I could detect it. Something had disturbed the chakra that I had dispersed within a mile radius upon my imprisonment those many years ago. A few wayward shinobi it appeared, judging from their high chakra quantities. A deep rumble of amusement escaped my chest. I flinched as it ached after so many years of lack of use.

They were coming closer, following the ancient tunnels that led down to my underground chamber. Did they no longer know what lay down here? That I was down here? More than a few decades had passed, I knew that for certain. Surely, their elders had warned them of me. Then again, humans had such short life spans after all, perhaps the knowledge of my existence had faded away. At least two generations must have passed by now. How unfortunate for them, yet fortunate for me.

A few more feet down and they would come past a door. My door. If only one of them would be so curious as to enter. . . hopefully my skills at deceiving hadn't grown too rusty over the years. My cheek muscles twitched in a resemblance of a smirk, this could very well be my ticket to freedom. Come closer little shinobi. . .

. . . . . * . . . . . * . . . . . * . . . . . * . . . . . * . . . . . * . . . . . *

"Naruto! These tunnels haven't been touched since the first Hokage, don't go around kicking the walls!" A pink haired kunoichi smacked her teammate soundly across the head. Despite her slight stature, the girl appeared to pack quite a punch. "Do you want to cause a cave in?"

"Waaahh! Sakura-chan!", the short, blonde teen rubbed his head furiously at the blooming pain. "I'm just so bored!"

Team Kakashi had been assigned the D-rank mission of investigating the ancient tunnels under the Hokage mountain. The Sandaime had wanted to see how well the tunnels would fair as a safe house, in case Konoha came under invasion. Indeed, the tunnels dated back to the First Shinobi War, and they had already found many rooms that held invaluable objects from the time period. It appeared that the tunnels had been used almost like a treasure house for Konoha's precious objects. Various weapons that were made from precious materials, or held untold amounts of sealed chakra were scattered throughout the dark, dank rooms. Scrolls of all sorts, that hid years of information were uncovered from their dusty shelves. Of course, Naruto and his fellow genin had been pulled back by their sensei upon figuring out that they concealed taboo information.

"Ooooh, looky! Another door!", Naruto giggled, mischievously. He ran up to the wooden panel and rubbed his hands together with a wide grin. Kakashi, the silver-haired sensei, sighed for the umpteenth time during their mission. "Naruto, don't do anything yet. The door could be a trap like the last one."

A lean, black-haired genin made himself known by a huff. "Dobe."

Naruto pouted at the mention of the incident. He had gone barreling through a door by himself and had become trapped by a genjutsu that created the illusion that Naruto was in a maze. It took the help of his teammates to get him out. It wasn't like he had gotten himself caught on purpose, it had been by pure surprise that he found himself wandering aimlessly through halls, even though he had been actually just standing in the same spot looking dumbfounded. "Shut up Sasuke-teme! That wasn't my fault! I knew the whole time that it was a genjutsu!"

Sakura snorted, "Yeah, I'm sure you did. That explains why you were standing there for ten minutes before Kakashi-sensei released you."

Sticking his tongue out childishly, Naruto turned back to the door stubbornly. "Can I please open it Kakashi-sensei? Pleeeaaasee!"

The jonin rolled his eyes at the boy's enthusiasm. "Sure, why not. Sakura, Sasuke, please be on alert in case Naruto is incapacitated again." The two gave a quick nod and positioned themselves for whatever was behind the door.

Kakashi nodded to Naruto, who giggled loudly and proceeded to push against the door with his shoulder. A loud creek erupted from the moving panel as it slid back, and the three students peered into the inky darkness. Naruto began to step in in curiosity, but Kakashi raised a hand, halting him. "Let me go in first. Since the door wasn't trapped, then there might be a trap further in."

The silver-haired man raised his hand, concentrated instinctively, and let his chakra fill it, receiving a glowing light in his palm in return. Holding his hand high, the jonin leaned into the room carefully, his students fighting over his shoulder to get a look. Inside, they saw a small chamber that looked like it had been carved out of the mountain just like the others. However, unlike the other rooms, this one appeared very roughly carved and less decorative. Whereas the others had been designed with depictions of various Fire Country nature scenes and picture stories narrating the formation of the Village Hidden in the Leaves on their walls, this one was left with deep gouges to decorate its bare surfaces. It was almost like someone had made this room quickly and left it for whatever reason.

"Aww, this one sucks, there's nothing in it.", Naruto whined in disappointment as he looked around. Kakashi, taking a few steps in, shook his head, and raised his index finger to one corner. "Not entirely empty."

Naruto followed where his sensei's finger was pointing and saw, what looked like, a figure suspended on the wall to the right of the door. The being twitched slightly as the light shone upon it. Upon the light hitting it's form, a feminine voice echoed out in the small room. It was rough and grinding, like it hadn't been used in a long time, yet still discernible as a woman's voice. The four Konoha shinobi were shocked at this discovery and took defensive stances at the sound.

"Would you mind shining that light elsewhere, a hundred years without sun can do wonders to your eyes.", the voice spoke slowly and sarcastically. Kakashi narrowed his eye, yet complied with the figures wishes. As he shifted his chakra-filled hand away, he could hear a sigh of relief. "Well now, this is certainly a suprise. Who are you?"

Despite the light shining to the side of her now, they could see that she was chained up. Taut shackles encased her wrists and a large one on her waist caused her to be lifted over a foot from the ground on the wall. Odd carvings spread out across the wall behind her. Black hair tipped with unknown colors fell down her shoulders in clumps, and something that resembled rags covered her body. It seemed that she had been here for quite a while.

"Depends on who's asking. Who is the Hokage for Konoha in office?", she cleverly countered his question with one of her own. Kakashi, though perplexed at the odd situation, saw no harm in answering her question and stated, "The Sandaime, Sarutobi Hiruzen, and I am Hatake Kakashi, a jonin shinobi for Konohagakure."

'Interesting, Konoha's already down to it's Third Hokage. Much time has passed, I wonder if these four would be willing to release me without too many questions. . . That silver haired one seems to be the leader of this group, it will be him that I'll have to negotiate with. . .'

"What is your name and why are you down here? Since I have answered your questions, it's only polite if you do the same.", the silver haired one, Kakashi, was speaking to her again. He looked like a peculiar man. A mask hid his lower face while a hitai-ate covered his left eye. The authority in his voice confirmed her suspicions, he was the leader. Which meant that he was the one who she needed to sway. His idea that she should be polite to a human scum such as he was insulting however.

Such pettiness would get her nowhere on the other hand, so she spoke. Revenge against the children of the humans who imprisoned her would have to wait. After all, she had waited a hundred years, a few more minutes would not break her patience.

"My name is Ryuu Kaminari, and as for why I am here, I would be glad to answer if you would unshackle me." She threw out the bait a little, hoping he would take it. He didn't.

"As much as I would love to release you, I'm pretty sure the Hokage would like to hear of this before any immediate actions are taken. The caves here were believe to be uninhabited-" He paused, looking her over under the small light he held in his hand. Unconsciously, he moved it closer and saw her entirely.

Dilating under the light, her eyes were golden green and had slitted pupils, like a snake's. Up close her skin appeared to be slightly scaled, though barely discernable under the layer of dirt that covered her. Thin, black, spike-like growths protruded from her temples and farther up on her skull. These ran back to her hair line, creating a mane-like effect. Pointed ears poked out from the sides of her head, pulled back in a reproachful way. An aristocratic nose held flared nostrils, it's end upturned slightly. Claws were elongated from her fingertips, looking quite deadly and sharp. The rags that covered her body appeared to be the tattered remains of a once expensive kimono. She hissed at his refusal and the light. Small, yet classically sculpted lips pulled back, and pronounced fangs showed themselves in anger. Overall, she looked like a cross between a human and something reptilian.

"-not only that, but you don't look quite friendly. Wouldn't want to release something harmful near the village, now would we, ne?" Kakashi made his eye curve up in the semblance of a smile. She simply growled in irritation at him.

Kakashi straightened up and glanced at two of his students. "Sakura-chan, Sasuke, find the Hokage, tell him of our situation and that his presence is needed. Nothing is wrong, just inform him of what we found.", Kakashi commanded. Sakura opened her mouth to argue, but a sharp look from Kakashi forced her to turn and make her way back to the village. Sasuke quickly followed after a lingering look at the imprisoned figure, though not eagerly, leaving Naruto and Kakashi with Kaminari in silence. Well, in somewhat silence anyway.

"What are you? You look kinda freaky ya'know?", Naruto asked bluntly. The strange looking woman glared at him. "I believe I just told you my name, you would do well to use it. As for what I am, I have no doubt my kind haven't been seen for quite a while so it would be no use explaining it to a simpleton like you."

The blonde huffed in outrage and rolled his sleeves up in a way of showing how ticked off he was. "Why I outta-! I'll show you who's simple ya lizard thingy!" He sprinted forward to punch her but Kakashi swiftly caught him around the middle.

"Now, now, Naruto, is that really any way to treat a prisoner?", Kakashi humorously chided, holding the struggling preteen as he looked at the woman pointedly. "You know, if you want freedom, then you probably shouldn't insult the people who hold you captive."

Kaminari merely scoffed and rolled her eyes. "The idiot shouldn't be so sensitive, and that was quite rude. You don't just ask someone what they are. It's simple etiquette."

"Yes. Well, Naruto here never really held much in the ways of etiquette. Nevertheless, you should try to cooperate a little with us." Kakashi did another eye smile, releasing Naruto. The blonde only jumped away from his sensei and stuck his tongue out at the thinly veiled insult.

'While this is amusing, it seems like my escape is not happening any time soon. I can only hope that this Hokage of their's knows little of supreme beings other than the Tailed Beasts.'

Yes, she had noticed the suppressed chakra of the damned Kyubi in the irritating blonde boy. The Nine-Tails and herself had clashed more than a few times when the fire demon had tried trespassing on her family's territory. Good to know that the bastard had been contained in a human. Though her situation wasn't any better, at least she wasn't confined in a stinking human and having her chakra sucked upon against her will.

She was drawn out of her thoughts by something touching her left wing. Her ears pricked up at the sudden sensation and her mind went on full alertness. That human, Hatake Kakashi, was currently stroking it with a confused look in his single eye. Naruto, out of curiousity, did the same, leaping back when he felt the leather-like material.

"I-it's real! She's got wings!", Naruto yelped, pointing a shaking finger at her. She disregarded him, as did Kakashi, who was still touching her wing.

"Do you mind?", Kaminari asked in irritation, a slight rasp to her voice. She could practically feel his human stench starting to cover her wing, which she was quite protective of. If only she were free, never would human touch her so casually, let alone on her wing! She coveted her wings because of the heightened sensitivity of the skin that made them up, even now each ridge of this human's fingerprint could be discerned by her. However, despite her disgust, the warmth from his hand was grudgingly appreciated. It had been years since she had been granted any heat, trapped underground in this damp cell.

Kakashi glanced at her through the corner of his eye. "Hmm? Oh, sorry, your wings are quite interesting. I thought they were carved out of the stone actually." He continued observing, running the pad of his finger over the many veins and spread out bones. Also, he was completely ignoring the killing intent rolling off the creature who's personal space he was intruding upon. His warm finger, was touching a ticklish spot and she had trouble keeping her body from squirming. Being ticklish was not a way to show that she was a powerful being to her enemies. And right now, this masked human and his blonde idiot were her enemies.

"Yes, I'm sure they're quite interesting. Would you stop touching it now?", she requested in a clipped tone, growling in anger. This time her voice reverberated through her chest, showing her displeasure on a new level. His eye widened a little and he held up his hands in surrender at her tone. "I apologize. I'll back off." He stepped a few feet back and leaned against a wall.

Naruto, still reeling from the odd feeling of touching her wing, was looking at her in complete wonder. "So can you fly and stuff? That's so cool! I wish I could fly! I could do so many different jutsus from the air! Hey! Did you know I plan on becoming the next Hokage?" The blonde quickly forgot his discomfort and looked up at her in excitement. Then, much to her misfortune, he began going on about ramen.

Kaminari's eyes were wide from this human's unplanned monologue. What in the hells? She looked over at Kakashi, completely flabbergasted at the unseen turn of the conversation. He simply chuckled. She returned her eyes back to the loud, orange sunspot and gritted her teeth as he showed no signs of ceasing to list the different places he had eaten ramen.

Great, she was stuck here with a babbling human for however long. Eternity in darkness seemed to be more appealing at the moment.


	2. Chapter 2

Kaminari had come across many things in her long lifetime. Even before her imprisonment, she had experienced the odd quirks of life many times again and again. However, nothing had prepared her for listening to a little blonde shinobi talk about ramen for nearly an hour and a half. The little twit had gone on from describing his favorite ramen flavors to how they were made, and even how he had experimented in creating different ramen flavors.

Feeling her claws digging into the palms of her clenched hands, she bit back another growl. The silver haired one had held a kunai to her throat when she had threatened the blonde the first time with imminent death. She had bit her tongue and kept quiet after that.

Now she was beginning to feel that tell-tale pulse of the vein in her left temple. This idiotic boy really had no idea how much Kaminari wished for his quick death.

And where in the hell were those other two brats? They had left to find the Third Hokage in little less than two hours ago. How long was it supposed to take for them to track their leader down?

Naruto, as he was called, she finally paid attention to what the scarecrow called him, was still talking and quickly pushing her to her limits. She turned to Kakashi, "I wasn't under the impression that you wanted me tortured while we waited for your Hokage."

Kakashi glanced up from the book he was reading. Kaminari had read the title and quickly deduced that it was a perverted novel by the name of Icha Icha Paradise. Humans were disgusting.

"That wasn't my intention, but it's very entertaining.", Kakashi grinned with his unique eye smile. Kaminari's gaze narrowed. "Just wait until I'm free scarecrow."

It was supposed to be a insult to his name meaning, but Kakashi brushed it aside. Instead he chuckled dryly, "By that implication, it seems you think we're actually going to let you go freely. You're underestimating our intelligence." He cast a knowing glance at her. It had been apparent from her impression that she held contempt for them. It was safe to say that it would be unwise to just allow her to walk around the village freely.

She then stated venomously, "I will find a way to free myself." In return, he waved a hand lazily, "Highly unlikely, those chains look to be high strength chakra suppressors. You won't be going anywhere unless we release you, and I doubt the Hokage will allow that without some guarantee that you won't harm anyone." He yawned and stretched afterward, if only to infuriate her more.

Kaminari shook her head in anger, turned to the chattering blonde and spat, "Will you please stop talking about ramen? I've never had this disgusting dish, therefore I have no idea what you're talking about."

Naruto gasped and his hands flew to the sides of his face in horror. "You've never had RAMEN! Kakashi-sensei, can you believe that!"

Said sensei merely looked up for a second. "Naruto, she's been down her for quite a while, probably before ramen was ever created. So yes, I can believe it."

The genin crossed his arms with a pout. "Well, it's unbelievable to me! Kaminari-san, as soon as you get out of here, we're going to Ichikaru's for a big bowl of miso flavored ramen! Believe it!". He gave her a thumbs up and a wide smile, to which she rolled her eyes.

"Yeah. Alright gaki, I'm waiting on baited breath.", She huffed in sarcasm. Kakashi shot her an amused glance before going back to reading. Naruto, not picking up on her sarcasm, started talking about his genin missions to her displeasure.

Thankfully, she was spared from his long, one-sided conversation by another presence disrupting her chakra field. Two were vaguely familiar, she concluded them to be the other genin from before, but three were new. This had to be the Hokage of these shinobi and possibly two guards. Kaminari grinned toothily, 'And now the fun begins. . .'

. . . . * . . . . * . . . . * . . . . * . . . . * . . . . * . . . . * . . . .

Sarutobi Hiruzen was no fool. He had been informed by the former Nidaime, before the man's death and the announcement of his successor, that a being had been securely stored away under the mountains of Konoha. The exact details of her imprisonment had been written in a sealed scroll in a secret chamber that was located in the Hokage Tower. It was the famed room that was only accessible to the Hokage.

He had visited the infamous chamber when the two small genin had informed him of their findings in the tunnels. Now with the scroll in his hands, he walked down the tunnels, quietly reading the scroll as he approached the creature's location to jog his memory. The ANBU shinobi that he had recruited to accompany them perked up in alert as they passed through a chakra field. Sarutobi also felt it, but kept calm as they moved. Sasuke and Sakura seemed to pass it without a care, not noticing it's presence. They were only genin however, so it didn't surprise them that they didn't notice it's presence.

Finally, the genin lead them to a poorly carved doorway. The Knucklehead of Konoha, Naruto Uzumaki's voice could be heard emanating from it, talking at maximum speed. Sarutobi sighed sagely, 'Out of all the genin that could have found it, it had to be Kakashi's team. And no doubt Naruto has been annoying it the entire time.'

The old man walked into the dimly lit room, gave it a quick look around, and saw Kakashi and Naruto immediately. Kakashi raised his hand in a two finger salute, lowering his orange book as he did. "Hokage-sama, good to see you. As I'm sure Sasuke and Sakura have told you, we have a bit of a situation on our hands." Kakashi gestured with a flippant hand wave to the wall Naruto was facing, and Sarutobi saw the figure chained up against it. The woman had an enraged look on her uniquely featured face.

"Thank you Kakashi, if you could dismiss your team, your presence would be greatly appreciated while we figure this matter out.", the Hokage smiled calmly. Kakashi nodded and gave his team the go to leave. "I will meet you three tomorrow afternoon. For now, you are free to rest for the day." Sasuke and Sakura, though curious, would never argue against a higher up's command, and left the room. Only Naruto had a problem with what Kakashi-sensei ordered.

"Oh, come on old man! I promised Kaminari-san that we would get some ramen! Besides, I'm not leaving her until I hear what you're gonna do with her! Believe it!", Naruto crossed his arms defiantly. He liked this woman, even though she didn't like him. He wasn't stupid. He knew that she was really irritated with him, but Naruto was a firm believer in smothering people until they accepted his friendship. If what Kakashi-sensei said was true, she has been down her for a long time. It must have been really lonely. If Naruto understood anything, it was how far down loneliness could drag a person. He was firmly set in becoming Kaminari's friend, even if the old man didn't like it. Plus, he really wanted to see if she could really fly. Totally cool!

The Hokage peered at the young blonde in consideration. Giving the events that were probably going to take place, it might be in Naruto's best interests to view it. After all, if what he read had been correct, they were dealing with a being that held the same amount of power as a tailed beast. Perhaps some good could come of it for the blonde genin. "Fine. Naruto, you may stay, but only under the circumstances that you remain silent throughout this. You seem to have already befriended-" Kaminari snorted in disagreement. "-this woman, but you don't fully know who she is, which is what I'm about to address. Is it understood that you will remain quiet Naruto?" The blonde nodded an affirmative, made a face that showed pursed lips in silence, and proceeded to sit down cross-legged.

Shaking his head at his genin's antics, Sarutobi pulled the scroll out fully and unrolled it. He stepped up to face the figure, tipping his head in respect. "Well Kaminari-sama, it seems that you have finally awakened." The four other shinobi in the room raised their heads in attention at the honorific the Hokage used. Surely this woman didn't deserve the respect of the Hokage himself?

The woman on the wall gazed down at him distastefully, despite the show of respect to her station. This human appeared to be old from the wrinkles and liver spots that dotted his face, and while dressed in long, white robes, he gave off the feeling of being a leader, similar to the scarecrow. A peaceful expression peered up at her with wise, aged eyes. Behind him were two other humans, dressed in black shinobi gear, and with oddly painted masks covering their faces. 'Humans are such strange creatures', she noted. She restrained herself and forced out her words with a slight tone of polite respect. "Yes, I have. If I'm correct, you are the Third Hokage of Konohagakure?"

Sarutobi nodded, "Yes, I succeed Senju Tobirama. His brother, Hashirama, was no doubt the Hokage of your time, correct?"

Kaminari hissed at the mention of the Shodaime's and Nidaime's names, but answered nonetheless. "Yes, they and the rest of the Senju and Uchiha tribes were the ones who imprisoned me upon my capture. Are you informed of who I am?"

The Hokage scanned the aged scroll in his hands and spoke. "It says here that you are part of the Ryuu clan, a group of dragons that lived in the forest surrounding Konohagakure. You are the last surviving Ryuu. The other members were killed in a battle over land disputes with the Hidden Leaf Village during the creation of the village. You were captured as a prisoner during the battle, and this room served as your cell. Am I correct in saying that you are the daughter of the head of the dragon clan?" All of the humans aside from the Hokage had looked up at the mention of the word 'dragon'. Their leader couldn't be serious. Dragons were merely things of stories, much like the Sage of the Six Paths.

Kaminari had shown many emotions during the Hokage's reading. Anger, sadness, and then pride when the Hokage had asked his question. She was the daughter of Sora and Yakusa Ryuu, both dragon demons of great might. Her father had been able to create typhoons with a beat of his great wings, while her mother could create lightning from the sharp tips of her claws. A great mated pair the two had been. Their tribe had consisted of her parents and her siblings, the other dragons had spread out over the surrounding lands when the humans had invaded. Her family had been the only ones to stay and fight. And now, she was the only one left.

"Yes, I am she. You humans wiped out my entire family when you came to our lands. The other dragons of my tribe fled and migrated to different lands. I presume that they were killed in similar land disputes. What will you do now leader of the Leaf Village?". Kaminari set her gaze pointedly at the old human in front of her. She was not stupid, she knew that there was no way the humans would let her go, now that they knew what her identity was. At the most, they would try and use her power against other humans. It was in the nature that human's held to do such things. The imprisonment of Kurama showed that to her.

Hiruzen stroked his beard and puffed on his pipe for a few seconds, trying to decide on the right choice of action. There was only one jutsu that he could think of that could make the situation pleasing to both parties. Or at least, somewhat pleasing. He had no doubt that Kaminari wished for freedom, and anything less would result in her refusing the offer made. He could not seal her like the Tailed Demons, that would be at the cost of a human life and the drastic change of a baby's future. Much like how Naruto's future had been changed upon the Nine-Tails sealing. He refused to acknowledge that avenue if there was another option. He had seen what could happen to a child that had something powerful sealed with in it. He was not ignorant of the fear that his villagers held towards Naruto.

No, that was out of the question. And the thought of killing Kaminari was quite displeasing. Not that he wouldn't order it if it would protect the village from her. However, it would be a waste of a life and he would rather not have to come to that conclusion. There seemed to be only one choice he reasoned.

"Kaminari, I would like to propose an offer to you.", Sarutobi said in a serious voice, his kind grandfatherly face turning stern. "Would you be interested in serving the village in return for partial freedom? That way, we could assure the villages safety while also allowing you to roam at your leisure."

The woman narrowed her eyes. Serving the humans who had destroyed her life? How disgustingly low would that be? Even if she were allowed to run from the deserts of the west to the ocean of the east, it wouldn't be worth it if she were still enslaved to humans!

He interrupted her inner rage that was growing. "I understand that this idea is very displeasing to you. However, I am in the position of having to protect my people while also acknowledging your wishes. I know that the Village Hidden in the Leaves has not put itself in your best favor and that we have made errors, however this is the only option I have where both the village and you can live in peace. Other than sentencing you to death, of course."

Death or enslavement? She growled in contemplation. There was no doubt that this old man would follow through with his words if she proved to be a threat against his people. In fact, she slightly respected him for that. It was the true mark of leader to protect the village's subjects so fiercely. However, that didn't mean that she still didn't wish death on every single human of Konohagakure, she merely respected their leader a little. Yet, if this was the only way to get of this hellish hole without dying, then perhaps she would have to stoop to that level. Even then, perhaps there was a way she could exact her revenge on the village.

"What are the conditions to this offer?", she asked with gritted teeth. The Hokage smiled a little, at least she was willing to listen.

"There is a jutsu that I know of, it will tie you to a person of my choosing. That person will have the power to restrict your chakra and therefore leave you powerless. You will also be unable to move farther than a mile from that person's presence. To be blunt, you will be under that person's supervision. This will be a trial session of course, until we believe that you are of no threat to us." He looked to her face for her reaction. It was not a good one. Her lips had curled in a sneer, nostrils flared, and her brow had furled into a glare.

"Is that the only way you will let me out of this cell?", she spat the question. He nodded deeply, understanding her ire. There was nothing he could do however. Her face twisted, and she let out a whirlwind of curses and animalistic sounds of rage. Her wings, which were not tied down, began beating in anger, throwing wind currents around the small room. The Hokage stood as still as stone as this continued, allowing her to vent her frustration without bowing to her show of power. The others recoiled slightly and were prepared to render her unconscious if she made a move to the Hokage, despite her chains. Then, as suddenly as her outburst had began, she quieted and faced him.

Her face had changed from enraged to a sickening grin, with pointed teeth showing fiercely. She laughed weakly and with a self-deprecating tone, she spoke, "Fine. Who will be the poor soul I am tied to?"

Taking a deep breath, and praising the gods that she agreed, Sarutobi Hiruzen turned to his left and looked at he silver-haired jonin still lounging against the wall. He had stood at attention of course when her sudden mood swing began, but had returned to relaxing as she agreed to their demands. "Kakashi, I am asking you to take on this mission. Would you consider being tied to Kaminari-sama?"

His choice was out of quick thinking. It wasn't a bad choice though. If anyone could leash in a dragon, it would be himself or someone close in rank. The closest person who came to that rank, in the village anyway, was Hatake Kakashi. The man had lasted longer than anyone in ANBU was supposed to. Not only that, but he had the intelligence of a genius that rivaled a Nara. If Kaminari plotted to escape and cause havoc, the ex-ANBU captain would probably figure it out before it could happen. Yes, Kakashi would make the perfect keeper of the dragon for now. Plus, if anyone was going to be able to change the dragon's opinion of humans, it would be the ex-ANBU's student, Naruto.

Kakashi was definitely not thrilled at his quick thinking however. "Um, Hokage-sama, I don't know if that's such a good idea." Kakashi brushed a hand behind his head pseudo-bashfully. Sarutobi met his gaze evenly, but said nothing, waiting for the man to continue. "I mean, I already have a genin team to train. How can I accomplish training them and keeping track of her?" It was a poor excuse, but an excuse nevertheless.

Naruto took that moment to break the rule that had been set, and spoke, "Aw, come on Kakashi-sensei! You can do it! Besides, it'll be awesome having a dragon on our team!"

Naruto's entire outlook on the strange woman tied to the wall had changed. She was now completely cool in his book, especially if she was as powerful as the Old Man implied.

Sarutobi shot a quick hard glance in Naruto's direction. "Naruto, I believe I told you to stay quiet." He looked carefully to Kakashi. "I understand your concerns. This jutsu will allow you to reign in Kaminari-sama's power in the flick of the wrist and as I said, she will be unable to move father than a mile from you. I am asking this of you because you have the most potential of handling her."

Kakashi glanced at the woman in question. She had become enraged again at the Hokage's choice and was glaring at him with a heat that could melt steel. Yeah, he definitely had the most potential handling that. He sighed in exasperation. Out of all the things the Hokage could ask of him, it had to be this? Then again, from the way the Hokage described it, the mission itself wouldn't be that hard. It was dealing with the woman's emotion's and attitude that could be possibly hazardous, but he had dealt with Naruto hadn't he? He should be able to handle an enraged dragon's anger, right?

"I accept the mission asked of me.", Kakashi said with a tone of defeat.


	3. Chapter 3

'Of all the infuriating negotiations that old bag of bones could put before me! And how on earth could he think that scarecrow would be best suited to 'control' me! He has no idea the power that I hold, the amount of chakra that I possess. I am the Princess of the Ryuu Clan! Destined to rule because of how much strength I wield!'

Kaminari was currently outraged at the choice the human Hokage put before her. True, the silver haired man appeared to be intelligent enough and already held suspicion against her. Which would mean that he would be on his toes if he had to watch her for the safety of the village. But to think that such a puny human would or could hold the power to restrain her was a deep blow to her pride. She glared with all her might as Kakashi agreed to the mission of being her retainer.

"Well then, since that is taken care of, I believe the next step in action would be to perform the jutsu. The quicker we complete this, the sooner we can get Kaminari out of this cell." The Hokage looked her in the eyes with his deeply wrinkled ones. She could see slight amusement in them at her predicament, though she knew that he understood what he was asking of her. The way he had put forth is bargain, in a serious and pitying tone which she hated, proved that he had come to this conclusion out of necessity, not of his own will. Though he gave this shaky show of kindness, Kaminari still despised him, her situation, and now the damned scarecrow to boot. The Hokage, in his deep baritone voice, asked, "I believe it has been a long time since you have seen the area outside of this mountain, isn't it?"

She snorted at his presumption. Little did he knew, during her brief moments of consciousness in the many years, she had sent tendrils of mental chakra out to view the changed landscape. It was a specialty of dragons to be able to connect their chakra to the natural chakra of plants, animals, and the very landscape around them. After all, their ancestry proved them to be a product of the natural environment. More so than even the humans with their nature based jutsus. It took very little concentration in her part to use this technique to keep an eye on the village that resided right outside her prison. However, she played the part of a fool for the Hokage. For now, her information was to be her own.

"Yes, it has been a long time. I have no doubt that many of the landmarks from my time no longer exist.", she replied, having calmed down slightly at her trail of thoughts. Yes, let the damn humans think that they had her on a leash. All she had to do was play pet until they released her. "I miss the breeze of the wind and the smell of a rainstorm on horizon." Despite herself, Kaminari's face showed a lingering of longing for the open skies she used to soar through.

Sarutobi caught the change of expression and felt his heart twinge a little. He damned his predecessor's slightly for the situation they had left for him. He had thought that she died during the years she had been down here without sustenance. In fact, he had come down here himself during his first decade of being in office to check and see if she still contained life. Nothing had given her vitality away, and so he had left the room as it was in the mountain. Allowing her a final resting place seemed to be the right thing to do. Not only that, but there were no records of the history of the dragons, except for a few scattered scrolls held in the Hokage library of course. Keeping the body of one, even though sacrilegious would have better than no record of the species at all.

As he thought about all of this however, Sarutobi's shoulders lowered in defeat. He had been wrong, and instead of preserving the last known body of a dragon, he had instead kept her imprisoned, and allowed her hate to grow and twist. It had only been when he mentioned the outside that she showed any facial expression that conveyed anything but anger, irritation, or hatred.

"I am surprised that you lived this long Kaminari, I would have thought that your life would have drained from you during these many years." The Hokage intoned sadly.

Kaminari snapped out of her reminiscing and returned to her glaring at his statement. So the human feels guilty does he? "Shows how much humans know about dragons. We have the ability to live forever if we are not injured in battle or weakened by disease." She gave him this nugget of information, if only to drive the tip of guilt a little bit farther in.

Sarutobi let out a deep breath at that. Well, that was surprising. No wonder that no records held any information on the species, apparently dragons held the key to immortality. A thing that he assumed his predecessors did not want to fall into the hands of a person with bad intentions. His own student, Orochimaru, came to mind actually. He assumed that they had destroyed the records and anything that had to do with the race, except for the young female before him. How interesting...

Nevertheless, the day was growing old, and though he was finding more out about Hashirama and his brother's actions than he had ever before, it was time to allow Kaminari her restricted freedom. "Well, this is all in the past, and I believe you would like to be free of those chains now, yes?", he asked, politely. Kaminari nodded silently, realizing that the old human was done with the detour they had taken during their conversation. She was growing bored and ever since the humans had teased her with the thought of freedom, she had been anxious to be off the damn wall.

Sarutobi hummed and turned to Kakashi, who had been listening while sneakily reading his book. He had also been keeping Naruto still with one hand on the blonde's head, his thumb digging into the back of Naruto's neck threateningly if he interrupted them. "You will want to uncover your Sharingan for this. I will show you the hand signs for this jutsu and provide a small demonstration on how the chakra should be molded in order to connect to Kaminari's. If your chakras do not connect, then the jutsu will fail."

Kakashi took this information in, put his trusty book away into it's rightful pocket, and nodded in confirmation. Making a quick sign to Naruto to stay still and silent, he raised a hand to his hitai-ate and pulled it up to reveal the hidden red orb. Kaminari showed a slight interest in this move by leaning her head in and narrowing her eyes.

'How surprising. It appears that doujutsu actually survived these many years. I had hoped that the damn thing would die out since the Uchiha clan didn't appear to been in the favors of many. This may prove interesting since the scarecrow doesn't appear to have any of the physical characteristics of the Uchihas besides the Sharingan.'

Of course, it had been many years since she saw an Uchiha, she could have been wrong in her assumption, but a gut instinct told her that the silver haired man did not share blood with the Clan that helped slaughter her family. The Uchihas had a different feel about their aura than Kakashi's did. Whatever he was, it did not matter, because he apparently still held the powerful doujutsu.

Kakashi looked toward the Hokage and nodded that he was ready to watch the demonstration. Sarutobi rolled up the sleeves of his robe and began making rapid hand signs, 'Mi, Tori, U, I, Inu, Tatsu, Mi, Ushi, Tori, Mi, Ne', all the while concentrating his chakra to flow into his left arm. Kakashi watched in rapt attention as the flow began to transform into the semblance of a forked snake tongue, the ends of it attempting to curl around something that wasn't there. At last he Hokage stopped muttering hand seals and held his left arm up. "This is what you will have to place around Kaminari's neck. The probes that you see here will reach into her chakra network through the passages in her jugular, travel down, and take hold on each side of the tenketsu aligning her heart." Sarutobi informed him with seriousness. "I don't believe I need to tell you and when dealing with a jutsu that affects those specific chakra points, caution must be used." He then turned to Kaminari with the same grave expression. "Cooperation must also be given. Usually the person being restrained is unconscious or restrained. More so than you are now. However, I believe you have the ability to keep still long enough for this procedure, correct?"

Kaminari looked through hooded eyes at the wisps of chakra that would soon be delving into her own chakra network and growled at the futility of fighting it. It was either this or death, she reminded herself. "Very well, do it quickly."

The Hokage turned to Kakashi, the silver haired jounin was staring at his hands. "Did you see everything that you needed in order to replicate the jutsu? I would give you more time to practice, however I believe this situation needs urgent action, don't you?"

Kakashi glanced up and nodded, he had been going through the hand signs that the Sharingan had copied and was confident that he could perform it, though it was a very complicated jutsu. It would definitely take a great concentration of chakra control. Even touching a single chakra point that wasn't on the path to the ones around Kaminari's heart could be detrimental. Kakashi was sure that he could do it though, he had mastered more difficult jutsu's on the first try after all.

The Hokage nodded, "Then begin."

*...*...*...*...*...*...*...*...*...*...*

Kakashi had faced many enemies before, all of them vicious and hell-bent on killing him before he killed them. So it was easy to walk up to the female hanging on the wall with all intentions of killing her, especially when every action she had made appeared threatening. Her unique features also gave off a predatorlike disposition. What was not easy was walking up to her with the intention of tying her to himself and thus having her become his own prisoner instead. He didn't particularly like dealing with prisoners, of course he did when the situation called for it. He didn't like it however. He chose his profession in life, and decided to put his life on the line for his village, contracting his life into the servitude of said village. If what the Hokage said was true, this woman had not had the choice in the matter. She had been from a Clan that was destroyed, and had then been held as a prisoner for close to half a century or more. And now she was to be a prisoner in a different way. No, the idea did not sit well with him, but he would do what was asked of him nevertheless.

He was also a man of curiosity. This odd looking female creature in front of him was unlike any humanoid he had come across before. Sure, the Inuzuka Clan of Konoha had claws and elongated canines. A few odd mutated humans, changed from experimentation or an overloaded amount of chakra, could grow wings and the aforementioned characteristics. But none of these features seemed unnatural on Kaminari's face. It appeared that this was the way she looked from birth, however long ago that was. The mention of her being a dragon really made his curiosity want the satisfaction of an explanation. It appeared that he would have quite a bit of time on his hands to ask questions too.

"I apologize in advance if this hurts. I will try to be quick, less pain for the both of us, right?". Kakashi stepped up until he was a foot away from her and gave one of his eye smiles to lessen the serious atmosphere. He noticed something flicking around her legs and glanced down, only to find an appendage flipping around nervously. It was long and narrowed at the end with a furred tip, the scale like skin was a dark color, indiscernible in the poor light. He mentally took a note of that to add to his quickly growing list of questions. A tail was definitely in the realm of mutation, not of natural growth.

"Keep your apologies to yourself and just get it over with.", she growled back at him, brushing aside his kind gesture. She noticed his look at her tail and quickly tried to get the damn thing under control by wrapping it around her leg. He dropped his easy going attitude at that. Fine, if she wanted it over and done with, pain ignored, then he could do that.

Naruto, the Hokage, and the two ANBU looked on as Kakashi started making the same rapid movements from before. Naruto didn't quite understand what was going on, only that Kaminari wouldn't be able to hurt anyone if Kakashi-sensei was successful. The talk of tenketsu and chakra networks had kinda gone over his head, he had never paid attention to that subject in the Academy anyway. At least Kaminari would be able to walk around, and meet people instead of being cooped up down here alone.

The sudden glow of chakra took his attention away and he stared as Kakashi-sensei's hand began to glow similarly to the Old Man's when he demonstrated it before. He had never heard of a 'Sharingan' before, but it must have had something to do with his sensei's odd colored eye. And it must have been why the jounin could replicate the jutsu so easily. He had kept his questions at bay though, the seriousness that pervaded the room had deterred him from speaking out of turn.

Finally the forked tendrils formed, and Kakashi looked up at Kaminari expectantly, "I'm going to begin, be ready."

She nodded and he took that as a cue and brought his hand to her throat. Immediately, the chakra delved into her flesh, the skin that it traveled under glowed mutely as his chakra began weaving it's way through her network. He noticed her tense and grit her teeth, not uttering a sound, but still showing the signs of being in pain. He ignored it, the stubborn female had told him to get it over and done with, and that's what he planned to do.

He would admit however, it was distracting to be in contact with her chakra. It's amount was truly massive, though diminished from the years of being underground without sustenance, and it's feel against his caused the small hairs on his neck and arms to raise. She was powerful, more powerful than him. The only thing he could compare it to was being in the presence of the Nine Tails. The difference between the two was the emotion that was conveyed. The Nine Tail'ss was infused with hatred and killing intent, truly terrifying even without its massive form. Kaminari's felt of anger too, but it masked the loneliness beneath. And the desperateness she held for freedom.

"If you're done soul searching, hurry up. My patience is wearing thin.", he heard her growl out, a little rasp beginning to show from the strain she was probably under. He shook his head to clear the lightheadedness he had developed from her chakra and concentrated once more. The glowing tendrils were now past her collarbone, nearly an inch from her heart.

Kaminari would never admit it, were she asked of the experience, but it truly was agonizing. She could feel the lighting nature based chakra of the silver haired human pushing its way through her body, shoving her own chakra out of the way. It took all of her willpower to not shove it back and expel it from her body. It was like having a minuscule knife cut its way through her chakra paths, all the while going further and further. It was reaching the paths around her heart when she finally began to panic.

This is it. Afterwards I'll be tethered like a dog to this human. 

She would give this human a little respect, aside from his little detour before, he had kept the procedure quick as she had wished. Now it was the true moment of anticipation though. At once, his chakra hit the points around her heart and her body erupted into agony. Screeching in pain like a large hawk, she tore at her shackles, her tail and wings lashing like a wounded animal. The feeling of his chakra molding itself into her own network felt like her heart was being grasped and squeezed to the point of it exploding.

Alarmed, Kakashi removed his hand and leapt out of the range of her waving appendages. A small thread of chakra followed his hand and stayed connected to Kaminari's chest as he moved. He looked to the Hokage for answers or orders, but the elder simply lifted a hand for him to stay still and calm. Not entirely sure what was going on, he obeyed and returned to staring at the writhing female as her body continued to constrict in pain. He hadn't meant to cause her this much pain.

Naruto had leapt to his feet, ready to run and intercept when Kaminari had begun screaming. The Hokage grabbed him before he could though, ordering the young teen to stay put and that he would only make it worse if her interfered. Now, as the blonde looked on, he felt helpless. Surely she shouldn't be in this much pain?

"It is because she holds so much chakra that she is in agony. Kakashi's chakra is currently fighting to dominant her's at the points around her heart. She will survive, it is simply painful." The Hokage informed them sadly. "This is why the person is usually rendered unconscious or completely restrained."

Kakashi acknowledged his words with a curt nod and relaxed his tense muscles. The jutsu had required some chakra, but the thin thread that still clung to his finger tips was still drawing energy from him and he did not want to use any excess energy. The two ANBU could take care of any unexpected turns. He had done his job as asked, and now his only duty was to protect Naruto and wait to see if the female made it.

As he started to relax, Kaminari's cries began to die off. Slowly, her body ceased its convulsions and remained slightly twitching. At last, her body slumped against its chains as the pain finally receded, leaving a deep soreness in her chest. She weakly lifted her head and stared at them. Unable to speak at the moment, her vocal cords had torn at some point and we're now rapidly healing themselves, she nodded to them.

Never again would she endure that. She had been injured in battle many times. Electrocuted, cut, suffocated, poisoned, chakra depleted, many things she had endured the pain of. But nothing could have prepared her to to have her vital chakra paths around her heart scarred and drilled at. Even now, she could feel his chakra that had nestled itself in the new, enlarged chakra points it had dug out for itself. She could see the thin, glowing thread that came from her chest and connected to his hand.

It was done. And what little pride I have probably flitted away from that show. 

She hadn't meant to allow her body to move and scream as it had. But damn, it had taken all of her concentration to allow the scarecrow's chakra to do as it did without interference from her own.

"Unchain me now. We have made a deal and I did my part. Your turn." Kaminari's voice lacked the fierceness it held before, but her words were still sharp despite how tired she was.

Sarutobi stepped forward and produced two keys from his robes. They had been tied to the scroll when he had pulled it from the shelf in his hidden study. Taking one in his hand, he walked up to the limp form and inserted it into the shackle on her left wrist. Her arm fell limply by her side, though Kaminari tried to slow it's descent. The right wrist followed swiftly, and finally he motioned to the ANBU behind him to be ready as he began to unlock the one around her waist. The shackles appeared to be chakra suppressors, designed with intricate seals that wove completely around them. Finally, the lock gave way and Kaminari was free.

Upon her descent from the wall, she landed clumsily and had to grab the wall behind her for stability. The leg muscles that had once been strong and massive were now shrunken and were more like string than anything. It took all of her willpower to not crumble as her feet felt ground beneath them after so long. The pain of the jutsu had weakened her frail body even more so.

Curling her limp wings and tail around herself instinctively, she looked at the humans around her for their reactions. She was now free, but under their control. She awaited to see what their next course of action would be.

The Hokage and scarecrow held expressionless looks on their face. The blonde brat was looking anxiously at her, like he wanted to help or something. The ANBU, of course, hid their faces behind their masks.

"Well Kaminari, I believe it is time that you saw something other than this chamber. Follow us if you will." The Hokage turned and began his exit from the room. Kakashi and the gaki walked over to her side, the jounin making a gesture that they would follow behind her.

Taking a shaky step forward and moving from the wall, Kaminari was able to keep herself upright. Left foot, and then right foot. She slowly made her way to the doorway and looked back over her shoulder and past the two shinobi behind her. On the wall, there was imprint of where her body had been, where dust and grime had made itself a home around her form.

I will never again be imprisoned like that. Never again.


	4. Chapter 4

The slow walk through the tunnels, back to the top of the Hokage Mountain where the opening had been carved was silent. The pace was sluggish since Kaminari was in no condition to move quickly. Once or twice the Hokage or Hatake had glanced at her, their gazes watching to see if she stumbled. When such glances were met with her prideful eyes, she would straighten her back and begin taking longer strides. After a while, both shinobi gave up and allowed her to limp on without comment or concern.  
Naruto had been surprisingly silent as well. Though it wasn't of his own choice. Kakashi-sensei had given him a silent glare whenever he opened his mouth to speak. Plus, there were a few times when his interest had landed on the flicking length of hair at the end of Kaminari's tail. Outstretched fingers, ready to just touch it, had been crushed in his sensei's gloved hands. It was clear that he should leave the poor female alone for now. He didn't understand it, but at the risk of making his usually laid back teacher really angry, he obeyed and simply followed behind.  
Speaking of the jounin, he was beginning to get exasperated at the blonde's normally endearing antics. It was like the boy wanted to get clawed or something. Not only was he exasperated, but his mind was whirling with thoughts. The thin thread of chakra connecting him to Kaminari had lost its glow and was now all but invisible, but he could still feel it. And he could feel Kaminari's chakra fluctuating as she used it to give herself the power to walk. The female was stubborn, that was for sure. Instead of allowing herself to show weakness, she used her massive amount of chakra to push her frail body into motion. He had seen her when they stepped out into the well lit hallway. Her limbs were sticks at the most, the skin clinging to the bones with nothing between the layers. It was only her face that appeared untouched by starvation, the cheeks still round and her eyes full. She was dirty was well, grime caked and covered in a thick layer of dust. Immediately, the dust had begun floating off as she moved.  
He had no idea what the Hokage had in mind in terms of housing her. Nor did he have any inkling of how the old shinobi expected to hide her unique features. The villagers still scorned Naruto for harboring the demon fox within himself. There was no doubt in Kakashi's mind that Kaminari's appearance would not be met with friendly smiles. And gods help them if the councilor's Danzo, Homura, and Koharu got wind of this. They would simply think that Kaminari should be used as a weapon, such as they believed Naruto should have been used. It had taken quite a bit of the Copy-nin's self-discipline to not threaten the old bastards when he had gotten wind of the rumors of the fate of Minato-sensei's son. As it were, the Hokage had been able to silence the Council on the matter of Naruto.  
No, Kakashi was not in a good mood. And as he walked behind the mysterious female in front of him, he dreaded all of the troublesome matters that were apparently going to follow being the guardian of her.  
Kaminari herself was having a bit of a problem, aside from goading her deprived body to move. As they got closer and closer to the opening of the tunnels situated at the top of the Hokage Monument, the degree of light in the hallway continued to rise. Her poor eyes, stuck in darkness for so many years were starting to burn from their inability to adjust. Of course, within the next few hours her body would recognize the injury and begin to heal them, but until then, she was faced with slowly becoming blind. Shutting her eyes would be the best thing, but doing so in front of these shinobi would show weakness, something her pride wouldn't allow. However, as they were finally within a quarter of a mile from the entrance, her eyes betrayed her out of instinct and closed, refusing to open, less they be damaged by the harmful rays of the sun.  
The group came out of the entrance and a great sight met them. Konohagakure sat in front of them, spread out in all of it's glory. The Hokage sighed in appreciation of the view, though he had been there millions of times, the sight never ceased to amaze him. This was his to protect, and protect he had. At the thought, he glanced over at the female, noticing her grimaced face and closed eyes and quickly deducted the problem. She wasn't able to stand the sunshine yet after being imprisoned in darkness. Well, a medic would have to look at her anyway because of her emaciated state, healing her eyes would simply be on the list of things to take care of.  
He turned around to address the group and his ANBU, as well as Kakashi, stood at attention.  
"I don't want Kaminari's true appearance to be announced quite yet. The only ones who will currently know of her true existence will be Team Kakashi, myself and you.", he nodded to the ANBU. "Until we can formulate a way for her real identity to be known, this is what we will say if anyone asks of her. She is a woman from a very rural area from the Kirigakure. Her family is known for their kekkei genkai, however as it is well known, they were driven out during the Purge, when those with blood traits were thought to be suspicious and were killed. This story should give us enough time to figure out a way to introduce Kaminari fully."  
The shinobi around him nodded without argument. At least some of Kakashi's worry was slightly taken away with the Third's plan. Naruto was simply nodding because everyone else did and he didn't want to appear stupid. He really didn't understand anything that the Hokage had said, especially the stuff of kekkei genkai and blood traits. He'd ask Kakashi-sensei later.  
The female in question was gritting her teeth slightly at the thought of having to assume a new identity. She was Kaminari Ryuu! Not some faceless human female! But, as the new 'pet' of these humans, she supposed she didn't have a choice.  
"Naruto, I would like you to find your other teammates and inform them of my decision. Do not forget to tell them that Kaminari's true identity is to be kept secret", the Hokage addressed the blonde. "Kakashi and Kaminari will have to come with me to the Tower so we can take care of a few things. I have no doubt that this will cause quite a bit of paperwork for my assistants." Sarutobi sighed with the thought of how many signatures he would have to sign in order to forge the paperwork needed for Kaminari to be allowed to stay in the village.  
Naruto's face twisted like a toddler's that had it's favorite toy taken away. "Aww, but Hokage-jiji! I was supposed to show Kaminari Ichiraku's ramen!"  
Kaminari snorted in disgust at the idea of trying this food, while the Hokage stifled his laughter at her response. "Now, now, Naruto, I'm sure you will have plenty of opportunities to show Kaminari around the village. However, we need to get her situated first.", the Hokage raised an eyebrow at him, as though daring him to complain again.  
The blonde just sighed, knowing that he had lost. "Fine old man, I'll wait then. See ya Kakashi-sensei, bye Kamin-"  
Before he could finish the sentence, the blonde perked up, smiled sneakily, and bounded forward to the female, who was still currently blind. Wrapping his arms around her torso and dodging the wings, he gave her a great bear hug before quickly leaping back to avoid her fist.  
"I'll see ya around Kaminari-san! Just wait until you try Ichiraku, you won't want to eat anything else!", he giggled impishly.  
The reptilian female was already snarling at the blonde as he bound away down the mountain. How dare he invade her personal space like that! The stupid gaki had put his scent all over her now and she could smell his repugnant stench even as he ran away. A small part of her had actually enjoyed the contact of another living being touching her after being alone for so long. However, that small part was currently being squashed at the anger she felt at the brat's gall and the fact that it was a HUMAN that had initiated that embrace.  
"If you shinobi wish for that blonde idiot to survive to adulthood, I suggest telling him not to do that again.", she growled out evenly, her hands clenching and unclenching to show her vexation.  
The group that was left merely chuckled at her. It was Naruto after all, the knucklehead had more brawn that brains after all. Even the Hokage sighed at the blonde's antics.  
. . . . * . . . . * . . . . * . . . . * . . . . * . . . . * . . . . * . . . . * . . . . * . . . . *  
At the Hokage Tower, Sarutobi sat back in his chair and glanced at the two people in front of him. The ANBU agents had resumed their posts around his office upon his return, so now Kakashi and Kaminari were left alone with the aged man. The journey from the Monument to the Tower had been an interesting one. Despite her blindness, Kaminari had been able to navigate with them over the rooftops of Konoha with ease. At a closer looks, he had noticed that the small tendril of chakra that connected the silver haired man to her had been what she used to follow him. The ANBU and himself had followed behind.  
It appeared that she had great skills in chakra detection. That is what prompted him to begin speaking.  
"It appears to me that you have a great amount of skill to offer to the village. As per our agreement, I believe that it would be a good thing for you to begin taking missions with Team Kakashi. The jutsu that binds you and Kakashi together will not allow you to move more than a mile away, and being with Kakashi's Team will allow you to see how shinobi work together in a unit, so this is suitable for our agreement, yes?", he looked to her for a response.  
In the lower lighted area of the Hokage's office, and since her eyes had slowly begun to heal, she looked at him through squinted eyes. No, this was not suitable, she had seen the group that this human called Team Kakashi. It was made up of three brats and an adult, including that evil blonde brat and his annoying scarecrow of a sensei. She didn't want to be stuck babysitting, but once again, it came down to her having no choice in the matter.  
"Since I doubt that there is a better situation for you to put me in, yes, I will take missions with the scarecrow and his brats.", she grunted. This prompted a chuckle from both of the shinobi in the room.  
"Well then, all that we have left to discuss is housing and other financial matters.", the Hokage took out his well used pipe and began stuffing it with tobacco. "Until you have enough missions under your belt to provide for yourself, I will provide necessary items such as food, housing, and clothing. If that is alright with you." The Hokage looked towards her as he used a small fire jutsu to light the now ready pipe. Cherry smoke began flooding the room with it's aroma.  
The woman sniffed at the intrusion on her olfactory system and nodded, "You do not need to provide me with clothing, but I will accept the housing and food."  
Kakashi and Sarutobi looked closely at her when she spoke this. The only clothes that they could see on her were hardly clothes at all. More like scraps of cloth held together by strands of thread and, in certain parts, chain mail. The tattered remains of a kimono over the chain mail was definitely not suitable to walk around Konoha with.  
"Are you sure Kaminari-san? Where do you have clothes to change in to?", Kakashi spoke up, allowing his leader the respite of not having to ask such a question. Both shinobi had noticed the female dragon's aversion to help or anything that might show weakness.  
She snorted and raised her arms. Taking careful swipes with her claws, she scraped away the dirt, grime, and dust that coated her like a second skin. Underneath it all, pale, almost blue-like, skin with odd tattoos began to show. As she finally cleared off the rest of her forearm, they were able to see a set of seals inscribed there.  
"During the war between our two species, it was important to always be on the move and have the ability to quickly clear away a campsite in case of attack.", she slowly explained, annoyed at even having to tell these humans something that was so common to her. "We dragons were the original inventors of seals. To put it bluntly, it was easy to create storage seals that we could carry on our bodies, which allowed us to carry all of our earthly possessions on ourselves. I have enough clothing to last me a lifetime." Little did they know, she also had a seal on her back, between her shoulder blades, that held all of the powerful weapons of dragons that had fought before her. It had been mission to gather them all before the humans could get their hands on them.  
Unbeknownst to her, she had completely flabbergasted the two seasoned shinobi in front of her. They had never thought using seals for that purpose. Nor had any shinobi before them if they remembered correctly. Even the great Jiraiya of the Sannin had never mentioned such a thing.  
"Well, that's useful.", Kakashi provided bluntly, his eye wide and surprised. Once again, Kaminari snorted, "You think so?"  
The Hokage cleared his throat. Hopefully in the future, this strange guest to his village would give more information about certain things, such as the odd techniques she appeared to know. If the feeling in his gut was correct thought, it would be quite some time before that. They would need to gain Kaminari's trust before they could ask her such secrets that appeared important to her clan.  
"Very well then. It appears that you are well provided for then Kaminari. As for housing, I believe that there is an apartment right below Kakashi's that would suit you. I will have one of my shinobi send a letter to the landowner informing him of his new tenant." Sarutobi took a piece of parchment and began writing and he continued speaking. "As for missions, I will allow Kakashi to be in charge of that. You will be at his command and any missions that his team take, you will also be a part of. Until I deem that it is safe for the jutsu between you too to be broken, this is probably how it will always be."  
He took note of a low growl coming from the female as he spoke of her being Kakashi's subordinate. He was not a foolish man, if he had assessed her correctly, when she was healthy and had full chakra reserves, she could probably put Kakashi in the hospital. No, this was to try and get her to accept humans more, if that was even possible. Not only that, but he was hoping a certain blonde troublemaker could break through her walls. He had already made an attempt if his earlier embrace to the dragon was anything to go by.  
This was certainly going to be interesting to watch.


	5. Chapter 5

For the thousandth time Kaminari cursed mankind. The Hokage and multiple-damned scarecrow were still going over the details of her stay in the village. She huffed to herself quietly as she sat and listened to them prattle on about missions that Team Seven would be allowed to go on with her attendance. It wasn't even their land, it was her clan's land that they had killed her clan over and claimed as their own. The very chakra that ran through the ground of the village rang in her veins as sweetly as her own. Yet, here she was, being subjected to rules and regulations on her movements on the very same land. It seemed bitterly funny to her.

"Kaminari-sama?"

The Sandaime lured her attention back to him once again. She flicked her tail in lazy acknowledgement.

"Yes?", she leveled her gaze with his, a slight curl to one corner of her mouth.

He place his hands upon his desk, fingers splayed and holding the weight of his arms equally, as if to ground himself in preparation for a battle. "It has come to my attention that your current appearance-", he gestured to her massive wings and twitching tail, "- might prove alarming to some in the village. I wonder if you might use a henge? Simply to save yourself from unwanted attention." The only way that his squad of ANBU, Kakashi, and himself had gotten to Hokage Tower unseen was to use a tactical genjutsu that resembled a chameleon's ability. Kaminari had traveled with them, appearing to blend in with the area surrounding her and seemingly become invisible. However, they couldn't use that genjutsu the entire time that Kaminari stayed in the village, especially if she were to go with Team Seven on missions. She would have to become a regular shinobi, both in appearance and actions.

Sarutobi knew that this would be a touchy subject for the female. She had already bent herself to many of their requests in order to become acquainted with the humans in the village. Against her will of course, and he had no mistaken thoughts that if she were allowed to, Kaminari would live in the woods of Konohagakure if possible. However the binding between her and Kakashi would not allow such a distance. Yet, to change her appearance entirely and thus mask her true self could be problematic with the dragon's obvious sense of pride. He was hoping that she would see sense though.

He had been right, of course. Both of the men in the room saw her clench her fists in anger at his request, before she seemed to calm herself down. He breathed a sigh of relief that she hadn't exploded in a rage.

After internal struggle, she too sighed, her's in irritation however, and she nodded, "I suppose it will have to do. If I'm to live in this damn village, I would like to do so without having your villagers gawk at me. I have an inkling that you would like to keep my existence unknown to your enemies as well, yes?"

Sarutobi rubbed the sides of his nose at the mention of the subject. However she was correct, and Kaminari had a right to know why.

"Yes, if your existence were to be known to others, then we would have an upset in the power balance that we currently hold.", he took a breath before continuing. "After the death of your clan, humans have gone through three Great Shinobi Wars while you were imprisoned. All three caused great destruction and casualties to all five Great Nations and plenty of the smaller ones. I will allow Kakashi to inform you of these nations and how the wars went. Simply put, to have a powerful being such as yourself in Konohagakure would cause uneasiness with other nations, possibly provoking them to start another war."

The old man smiled dryly at her then. "As you can see, unless you wish for the village you stay in to become a war zone with enemies fighting to also hold your power, keeping your identity unknown would be advisable to both you and the village. What do you say Kaminari-sama?"

All she did was growl again. Her eyes had flashed at the mention of others using her power though, so she seemed to understand her predicament. She soon nodded again after giving it some more thought, "I understand that this would be beneficial to both parties, so I will do as you ask."

The Hokage smiled gently at her agreement and waved his hand to give her the cue to perform the jutsu. She frowned at the underhanded order, but performed the jutsu nevertheless.

To their surprise, she didn't use any hand signs to execute the henge. Instead, they saw her chest move as she took a deep breath and began to transform. Her leathery wings and furred tail slowly retracted back within her body. The growths on her head, which Kakashi now realized were horns, began to withdraw into her skull. Claws became normal fingernails though they were still unnaturally pointed, sharp fangs morphed into blunt human teeth, except for her canines, which remained elongated. Finally, they saw her pupils dilate into the rounded shape that all human eyes had.

All in all, now she just looked like a very dirty woman. A beautiful woman, but still filthy and in need of a good meal. Her body had molded itself into the new shape with what it had to use and so, the emancipated state that she had been in had remained. Her clothes also still needed to be replaced. In fact, both the Hokage and Kakashi looked away in embarrassment.

During her transformation, it seemed that the first joint of her wings had been holding the front of her tattered kimono up. With them now gone, it had slipped further and further down until her entire chest was showing. And she was definitely a female, both in her species and in their own.

"Eh-hem, Kaminari-san, if you would please pull the front of your clothing up properly...", Kakashi coughed into his elbow while averting his eyes. Though he was a vivacious reader of Icha Icha, he still held the moral that women were not to be oogled at, unlike his beloved author. The Hokage was in a similar position and nodded in agreement.

At the strange behavior of the humans in front of her, Kaminari did as asked, though with a raise of her eyebrow. What was wrong with her chest? She has seen nude human females before and thought that she had done quite a good job of turning her own mammary glands into ones of a typical human female. It wasn't until she had made herself proper again that she remembered that humans had strange ideals about seeing one another naked, particularly males seeing females nude. Something about sexuality and all? Though how that equated with being naked, she didn't know.

She rolled her eyes as she realized the problem she had caused. Dragons didn't care about the state of another's wardrobe, especially when they were in their true forms. It was a waste of cloth to make clothing for something so big. It wasn't her fault that she had forgotten the human's tender virtues. "I'm decent again. For Kami's sake, you'd swear I was mating in front of you two."

The two blushing men turned back around, only for their blushes to increase at her statement. Even Kakashi, who usually showed little emotion, aside from annoyance or slight happiness, had a large blush that blossomed up to his uncovered eye. The Hokage coughed at the statement, sparks of lit tobacco spilling out of his pipe. "Kaminari-sama, I apologize, but you will find that human culture is a little different from your own. I will leave Kakashi here the task of teaching it to you."

The mentioned man began sputtering in disagreement at the order, but the Hokage raised his hand to quell the arguement. Kakashi's shoulder slumped in defeat. It seemed that today was the unluckiest day of his life.

"Furthermore, I believe that we have discussed all that we can today.", he glanced out the windows of his office at the sunset. "Anything else that we need to discuss will have to wait until a later time. Kakashi, I will ask you to take Kaminari-sama to her assigned apartment, and also show her a place to find a meal. Tomorrow your account should be set up and your identification records will be written. Report here again, and I will give you the the allowance we spoke of. We will also need to have you do a spar with one of our own shinobi in order to gauge what your level will be as a kunoichi. Is that acceptable?"

Kaminari raised a sculpted eyebrow at his question. He could have easily dismissed them, but instead he asked if the conditions were to her liking. It seemed that he was still going to give her the same respect he had in the cave. Her pride swelled at the notice of her royalty, but she took it with a grain of salt. She would still keep an eye on the old man on the off chance that he was using her pride as a way to control her. As the saying went, flattery would get him no where. However, that didn't mean she wouldn't play along.

"They are. I will be here tomorrow morning.", her tone was clipped, but to their surprise, she bowed her head slightly as a show of respect to their agreement. The Hokage returned it and gestured to the silver-haired shinobi beside him.

Kakashi stood up and held his arm out to the door, giving her the lead. She rose and walked to the doorway with him following behind. And thus, her stay in the village would begin.

*...*...*...*...*...*...*...*...*

As Kakashi jumped over the rooftops, his body doing the simple actions without thought, he turned to the woman following him. She had been silent as they started making their way to the other side of the village, where his apartment, and now her's, was located. The connection between them had been twitching as he felt her using her chakra once again move. She was using it to be able to move her very thin body again. Dinner was definitely a need to do soon.

Never let it be said that Hatake Kakashi was heartless. He did not like the female, her personality was prickly and unkind, but that didn't mean that he would let her fend on her own. Plus, the whole idea that she could potentially destroy a good portion of the village if let unsupervised, didn't help.

So, as they passed through the different shops and homes of the village, he kept a lookout for the certain restaurant he had in mind. Teppanaki's barbecue seemed like a good choice. The closed off booths would provide them with some privacy from onlookers and he had a good feeling that Kaminari-san was a carnivore, if her fangs from before were any indication. He didn't feel like explaining her to any of the other village shinobi just yet, especially with the dirt and clothing she had on and her brash ideals about humans unspoken of. Yeah, the closed booths would be highly welcomed and the seasoned meat would be gratefully eaten. This whole ordeal had made him a little hungry too.

They closed in on the restaurant's location and he turned his head to her and landed lightly on a neighboring roof. "We're stopping here for a bit. I believe you're hungry, right?"

She had stopped as well and had started to protest, but at the question, her shrunken stomach made its presence known with a growl, not unlike its owner. Any other person would have blushed or appeared sheepish, but she merely glared at her midsection and then turned those sharp eyes on him. With a reluctant nod, she agreed.

He didn't comment, instead he pointed at the building coming up on their right and they jumped down to head towards it. Though he stayed silent, he was beginning to become exasperated at her disagreeable personality, especially since this meal was going to be paid by him. She hadn't received her shinobi allowance yet, so unless the Hokage wanted her to eat really cheap ramen, he had known the Copy Nin would pay.

Wordlessly, they walked to the restaurant together and waited for a hostess. The poor woman took a glance at Kaminari's appearance and did her best not to comment. Especially since the disguised dragon had caught onto her thoughts and was glaring hotly, daring her to make a remark.

Finally, they were seated at a table with walls that went up the sides of the booth. The barbecue grill was situated down the middle of the table with space on either sides for the customers to place their drinks and meat. Kakashi, having eaten there before, simply ordered a bit of everything for the both of them and water as well. The hostess took the order and walked away, a little quicker than normal in Kakashi's opinion, no doubt due to the person opposite him.

And now they were alone. And he didn't dare bring out Icha Icha Paradise just yet. He had seen how she eyed the book distastfully in the cave. He hadn't been concerned then because she had been restrained. Now she was not, and though he didn't expect her to attack anyone, he would not put his precious reading material in harm's way. Which meant that he could either speak or allow the awkward silence that slightly irked him to continue. He picked conversation.

"So... this is definitely interesting. Didn't expect this when I woke up this morning.", he attempted with an eye smile.

She simply stared at him with a disdainfully raised eyebrow. Dear Kami, the scarecrow human was actually trying to converse with her, and starting off very poorly she might add. After a few seconds of her eyes boring holes into his, she realized that he wasn't going to stop his attempt at polite chat.

"Are you really going to try and pull me into light conversation?", she growled in a weary and annoyed tone. She did not want to speak to him, not after the long and tiring process of becoming subservient to both him, his leader, and his village. Apparently the idiot didn't get the idea that such a thing could make someone disinclined to speak, let alone converse.

His one eye became just as steely as her's. "Yes, I am. Though you may not like it, we are stuck together, so becoming at least somewhat friendly towards each other would make this easier."

The yellow eyes, that were still slightly unnatural, narrowed at his daring statement. "You really think that I'm going to just become nice and chatty after being enslaved to you?", she hissed, fangs clicking against each other.

"No. I expect you to at least understand your situation and try to make the best of it.", he argued with a sigh, showing his exasperation. "And we aren't 'enslaving' you. We are attempting to give you a chance at living and still protecting ourselves. Are you saying that, if we let you free, you wouldn't attack us at the first chance once you recovered completely?" He stared pointedly at her, hoping that she saw his sense.

Kaminari frowned and looked away, as if to confirm his accusation. Snorting at her, he rolled his eye. "That's what I thought."

Her head whipped around at him and snapped, "Why do you even care? Shouldn't you just be happy that I can't destroy anything or kill anyone? Why even attempt to talk to me or be friendly with me if you know that I hate your species and wish to annihilate it?"

His shoulders slumped as he stared at her incredulously. Was she trying to make him hate her or something? He sighed deeply again and rested his head on his hands for a second before looking back up at her in a determined fashion. His single dark eye stopped her from speaking or glaring because of it's intensity.

She had not seen the human be this serious yet, except in the cave. However, that had been because of the somber atmosphere of the jutsu that was performed. However, right now in this public restaurant, his face was stern enough to silence anything she was going to say. It was clear that he had something he wanted her to hear.

"Because, as I said before, you are stuck with me and I am stuck with you. I don't hold any anger at you for your feelings towards humans, but that doesn't mean that I'll allow you to harm me or others. While I don't expect you to suddenly forget the death of your clan, you should know that not all humans are bad.", his face lost its intensity at that point and resumed its blank mask. "Besides, despite your thorny personality, I think we could be friends. Or at least share the misery of being in each other's presence." Another eye-smile accompanied the bleak statement.

He left her stumped. She didn't know how to process his odd truce of sorts and before she could come up with an adequate response, the hostess from before reappeared with a tray of drinks and raw meat and vegetables. Giving her a nervous glance, the woman set the food down, bowed shakily and told them to find her if they needed anything before scurrying off. In Kaminari's frazzled mind, she felt a small hint of pride at having cowed the human girl. Being feared gave her some comfort in her current situation. However, a smell wafted up to her and stole all thoughts away as her nose followed it to its origins.

Looking down at the slightly bloody meat, her instincts flared up. The scent of sustenance made her mouth water and incisors ache. Trying to keep some semblance of politeness, she restrained herself from launching at the platter with the ferocity of a lion. Instead, a sharp clawed hand shot out, nabbed a piece of beef between its digits, and just as quickly put it in her mouth.

So many decades had passed since she had tasted the rewards of a hunt, and while this meat wasn't as fresh as she normally preferred, it still felt like heaven in her mouth. In another speedy instance, a slice of pork and chicken soon followed the delicious beef. Very soon, it was pure hunger that drove her mind as she devoured her entire plate of meat, slice after slice being torn apart between sharp teeth and then following it's brethren down to her gut.

He was staring at her in amazement again. This time, it wasn't because of her abrasive attitude. No, it was because he could see a true predator in front of him, bloodlust in her eyes and quick movements and all. He had seen animals that were starved fall upon food like that, however he could see that she kept a certain grace to her hunger-driven feast. It was like watching a tiger pick a deer's bones clean. Meticulous, yet still fully predatory.

After the first few seconds, he gave up on waiting for her to come out of her frenzy and started laying vegetables out on the grill for himself. With a pair of chopsticks, he picked up a nicely browned mushroom and ate it daintily. With his mask quickly pulled up after every bite, of course. Keeping an eye, on her he continued his own meal. Finally, he saw her pick up the last slice of beef and swallow it whole before looking back up at him, lips licking her invisible chops. Satisfied yellow eyes caught his single one as he had raised a cooked pepper to his clothes mouth.

"That was delicious.", she grinned, both sets of sharp teeth flashing. Hell, Kakashi could have sworn he heard a purr in her tone.

Lowering the pepper slowly, he arched an eyebrow. "I would think so, considering how quickly you went through your plate."

She shrugged with a nasty grin on her face. However she caught the inflection when he referred to her plate. Looking over, she saw that his meat was still untouched. It seemed that the scarecrow had stuck to an herbivore diet tonight. Instantly, her pupils dilated like she had sighted prey. However, she stopped herself from grabbing it. She'd be damned if she showed barbarian behavior in front of a human. Particularly this one. She was still trying to figure out a way to outwit him for his earlier statement.

A gloved hand reached out and took hold of the plate of meat, lifting up a few inches from the the table.

"I believe you'd like this?", Kakashi offered, tilting it in her direction. He had seen how she zeroed in on the meat, and an idea had formed in his mind. It would certainly put everything on the table, so to speak.

Her eyes followed the meat like a hawk, however her body instantly relaxed and gained its composure. She would not show the human how starved she really was. "I would not mind having more. You'd be amazed at how famished one can be after decades.", she replied, glancing at him glibly.

A corner of his mask moved, almost like a smirk had formed. "I'm sure, anybody would be hungry after that." He leaned back and decided to put his idea to work. "Which is why, I will give you my share on one condition."

Her eyes locked his own in a split second at those words. They were venomous, pure yellow and the pupils barely existent. "I'm not a mutt to be trained with treats scarecrow. Do not make such an insult again." Sharp claws clicked together under the table at her threat, as if to prove a point. She was angry, and had half a mind to claw him if she hadn't known that it would make things troublesome for her.

He held up a palm at her cold words. "I'm not asking you to perform tricks for meat Kaminari-san." To prove his point, he leaned across and put the plate in front of her gently. "I'm asking that if you eat this meat that you agree to try to work with me. No guarantee or anything, but simply an attempt."

The corners of her mouth dipped down. He had stumped her again. He wasn't asking for an exact request, instead it was something as simple as trying to be pleasant. She studied him for any signs of an alterior motive, but found none. He seriously only wanted to try and work with her in a companionable way. The human was insane.

However, being completely nasty to every single human probably wouldn't help her in any case. She was already given all that she could in terms of having her freedom. Perhaps, allowing this twisted scarecrow to befriend her wouldn't be such a bad thing. Especially since he was essentially her jailor. Logically it would be in her favor to try and form a some what positive friendship with him, though she might loathe every minute of it. At least, as long as he didn't try to be affectionate like the orange idiot had been. She could still smell his stench on her. No, embraces were not allowed.

"I will not allow you to embrace me, but yes. I will try to 'work' with you.", she gave him his answer before lunging onto the plate, fangs and claws flashing in the light.

Kakashi's smiled inwardly before he fully analyzed her words, and then his eye snapped open. 'Embrace?!'


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello friends, as you can see this is a new chapter. I previously released it on fanfiction.net, for those of you who follow both sites. Please read and review this chapter, unfortunately I didn't get much of a response on fanfiction.net, though my traffic stats tell me that people are reading my story! Also, since I did not put this up yet, much like I don't own a lot of things, I do not own Naruto, however my addition to the original story plot and my characters such as Kaminari ARE mine! Don't take!

After the proverbial offering of the olive branch, the rest of their odd meal was passed in mutual silence. The only sound were the vegetables and meat softly sizzling on the grill. Kaminari had allowed him to take a few slices of pork off her plate in exchange for some onions from his. He had given her a questioning look that she only shrugged at with the reply, "Onions add a little taste that makes it more savory." At the moment, they were only waiting for the receipt from the previous hostess that had passed by.  
He had thousands of questions now that they had reached a sort of friendly understanding. The seals on her skin were only the tip of the iceberg of knowledge that he assumed she must have. He prided himself on being adept in all subjects of history, the only exclusives being things such as useless subjects like dignitary meetings of old, or the evolution of Rock Country's wheat trade market. The latter had been from a prior mission in his ANBU days which he promptly forgot after the mission had been completed thankfully. The subject of a clan of dragons, real and living, was never found in any book he had read. And Kakashi Hatake had read a lot of books in his twenty seven years, despite popular belief that he only read Icha Icha.  
So, as he sat across from this female dragon, disguised as a human, he had to bite his lip under the mask from allowing himself to indulge in his curiosity. The dragoness easily noticed his tension with a cursory glance.  
Deciding to confront him about it, she crossed her arms, the motion gaining his attention. "You may be able to fool your fellow humans with that mask of your's, but I can see from your body language that you're dying to tell or ask me something." Kaminari raised a unimpressed eyebrow as she cleverly dissected the scarecrow's reason for being on edge. She had finished her meat and felt her stomach quickly working to make the proteins into muscle. Her body was not like humans in the way that they had to create muscle by breaking the fibers from exercising, only for them to be repaired and made stronger with proteins that they ingested. No, her body made quick work of the two plates of meat, breaking her own muscles itself, and then replacing them with new, more durable muscles. Excess fat was completely nonexistent on her, except around her stomach, but that came from being a female of any species.  
Kakashi fumbled in his mind for a way to encompass his wayward curiosity and abundance of questions into an explanation that wouldn't end in him just firing inquiry after inquiry at her. He had a feeling she wouldn't take being treated like an encyclopedia well. "I'm... curious about a few things."  
She inclined her head slightly with a slight curl to her cruel lips. "I had a hunch you would be. You and your leader looked at me like I had lost my senses when I showed you these in the Tower.", gesturing to her still-dirty skin swirled with ink, she gave him a cheeky smirk.  
While he was slightly happy that she seemed willing to give him some information, Kakashi quickly glanced around them to see if they had any eavesdroppers. Though he was hardly in enemy territory, nor surrounded by enemies for that matter, he would be a fool to think that there weren't rats in his village. Rats that scurried about and gathered the whispers of Konoha to distribute to the other Hidden villages for a good price. The walls of the booth they were in could only give so much privacy, definitely not enough that he was willing to discuss topics such as powerful seals or history about a species that weren't supposed to exist, let alone there be a surviving member.  
Kaminari noticed his look around and showed that she got the idea with a nod. "Later."  
The hostess soon gave them the bill, which Kakashi reluctantly paid. He made a mental note to do one of his 'Dine and Dash' schemes once he knew Kaminari had a sufficient income. Night had fallen during their meal, and they were off jumping over rooftops in the dark now. The dragoness followed him like before, keeping on his tail with a respective distance between them. There were others leaping about in the shadows as they made their way.  
He felt eyes slide over him and his companion as they passed. Already news would be spread tomorrow that a new shinobi was in the village. Being the famous Kakashi of the Sharingon, Copy-nin, etc, left him little privacy when he was out in public and Kaminari wasn't barred from that since she was in his company. He could have taken another route that would have kept them from the high-trafficked rooftops, but he was tired from the day, and it would have been just delaying the inevitable. Kaminari was a member of the village now, whether she wanted it or not, and the civilians and shinobi would have figured it out sooner or later.  
Quickly zoning on his apartment complex, he landed lightly right in front of the owner's second floor abode. Kaminari quietly touched ground behind him as he gave the door a polite knock. Taking a glance behind him as Kaminari's disheveled appearance, he silently prayed to the gods that the landowner didn't ask too many questions. Hopefull, all of the years that he was a quiet, model tenant would keep Hoshibi-san from getting irritable.  
An elderly man with a broad physique and brown hair dusted with white answered the door. A stern look crossed his aged face at the sight of his visitors. Hoshibi Itaru had been renting out to shinobi for the last ten years since he had bought the apartment complex as an investement of his life savings. Those ten years had made him wary of new tenants due to the many floods, fires, and explosions caused from ill-placed jutsus and such. Plus, shinobi tended to be odd folk, like that Mitarashi Anko girl. So when the missive from the Hokage had arrived, stating that he was to give housing to another shinobi, he had not been pleased. The Hokage had even given him a story to go with the young woman, but he hardly paid attention to that. Something about being forced from her previous home, and settling in Konoha as a new way of life. He didn't care, nor did he put a lot of stock into the truth of the story. He had learned that shinobi were hardly a truthful bunch.  
"Are you the new tenant?", he asked gruffly, looking to the dirty girl behind Hatake-san. The silver-haired ninja had never given him any trouble, and he knew he was being a little impolite, but he refused to give the girl board unless she understood that he had zero tolerance for troublemakers.  
The Copy-nin coughed slightly and redirected Hoshibi's attention to him. "Hoshibi-san, this is Ryou-san. I'm sure that the Hokage notified you of her arrival?"  
He would have snorted at Hatake's professional tone, but he didn't want to incur the quirky man's animosity. He settled for nodding stiffly instead, before going back into his living room and retrieving the keys to the apartment. Upon returning, he crossed his arms and looked the girl straight in the eye. He held back the shudder that threatened to go through his spine at the oddly colored irises that stared back behind long strands of black hair. They held something mysterious in them, as if those eyes had seen far more decades than they wanted to. He nearly let his strict posture fall in the face of Ryou-san's eyes, but he quickly shook himself mentally. No, he had to stand up to these shinobi or they would walk all over him.  
"These are the rules. No elemental or explosive jutsus are to be performed in the building. Rent is due on the first Monday of every month, no exceptions. Finally, I reserve the right to notify the Hokage of any illegal activities of my tenants. I don't run a motel, I want my building to be treated with respect.", he finished his speech with a hard curve to his jaw, though it was mostly a bluff. Hatake had seemingly given up on playing the part of a mediator and simply stood at Ryou's side.  
The girl simply bowed politely to his surprise. If Itaru had been a shinobi, perhaps he would have noticed the Copy-nin's eye widening at the unexpected gesture. "I understand Hoshibi-san, I will treat this building with respect as if it were my own." The tone was clipped, but held honesty at the same time. It was easy to see that the girl wasn't used to showing respect to others. Itaru huffed to himself, but held the keys out nevertheless.  
"Good, you have this month's rent paid off already thanks to the Hokage. Your apartment number is 206, one key is for the door, and the other is for the main building where the laundromat is. Don't lose either of them, or you'll have to pay for a replacement." Itaru informed her while she held the keys in her hand, fingering the two pieces of metal.  
Ryou gave a shallow nod to show she understood. "I will remember that. Thank you."  
The old man nodded in return, then turned back around to his door with a polite wave to Kakashi. "Good night to the both of you. Goodness knows these old bones need their rest. And Hatake, tell that Shiranui he needs to pay up for last month's rent. I'm getting tired of having to track him down."  
Kakashi managed an eye-smile at that. "I'll pass the message along."  
Once the door was closed, the two of them gave each other a glance.  
"Hmm, so you do know how to be polite...?", Kakashi teased with a slight smirk. To be truthful, he had been prepared to defend Hoshibi-san at the first sign of offense from Kaminari. The old man had been a little rude, which he had suspected would irk the dragon. He had been quite amazed to see her instead meet his gruffness with a cold and detached politeness.  
An annoyed look flashed across her face at his observation. "Would you rather I cut out his tongue? We can knock again." She grinned viciously and raised her hand in a fist towards the door mockingly, but found her wrist quickly caught in a larger grasp.  
"Let's not." Another eye-smile crossed his face, though Kaminari could easily hear the less amused tone in his voice. Well, she wasn't exactly tickled either, especially since he was once again getting his scent on her. With a growl, she forcefully took her wrist out of his hand. "No touching, that's a rule."  
He still kept his eye crinkled, raising his hands in polite surrender at her fiery animosity. "Maa, if that's what you wish Ryou-san."  
This man is going to irritate me all the way to the afterlife, isn't he? The thought floated through her head as she rolled her eyes at his display. Now that she was standing next to him, as compared to being on a wall or sitting down, she could see that he was a few inches taller than her in her new form. Though it could have been the ridiculous hair playing tricks on her perception. She had seen many odd hairstyles on humans before, but the silver mess on top of her retainer's head beat all other competitor's. Gazing up at it, she wondered if he was using chakra to keep it spiked as it was. Then again, as she recalled from before, he had lightning based chakra, so the static could cause-  
"If you're done staring, I think it's time I showed you you're apartment." Kakashi's voice broke through her thoughts, and she blinked at him. He had gone back to an emotionless face and was gesturing her to follow him down the balcony hallway. He had noticed her unexpected perusal of his physical features, but decided not to comment.  
Nodding vaguely, she began following him again, quickly walking up to match his stride. "You have odd hair for a human. Odd coloring too." The statement was simply an observation on her part and it was made in a blunt tone, however she held back a gleeful chuckle as he glanced down at her in surprise. She might have been five times his age, but she still enjoyed teasing others when possible.  
He was actually more confused at the random topic than surprised, but he played along anyway. "I suppose you could say that. The coloring has been in my family for generations, as well as the white color of our chakra."  
Now it was her turn to be surprised, though she kept her facial expression neutral. "You have white chakra?, she asked, a slight interest peeking through her indifferent facade. Human's only had blue chakra from what she had seen before. The only time the chakra of a human changed color was when nature chakra was mixed in through senjutsu.  
He raised a hand in reply, allowing chakra to flow through the wrist and release at the tenketsu points in his palm. A softly crackling white light filled the hallway as the raw energy was released.  
"Hmm, that is certainly unique for a human...", Kaminari murmured thoughtfully, golden eyes focused on the ball of light as they walked. Thankfully, Kakashi was keeping an eye on the passing apartment numbers, since she obviously was not.  
"And why's that? Aside from obvious color differences?", he asked off-handedly, passing 202 he noted.  
She hummed once he had extinguished his hand, and strode up to be right next to him. Holding out her own hand, she let her own chakra flow through it. The copy-nin's eye narrowed as he saw that the light that came from her hand was a rich gold as compared to the serene blue of a human, or the lashing red of a demon.  
"I have only ever seen blue chakra come from humans scarecrow, even the Senju and Uchiha of old had the same blue chakra that most humans have. To see a human have a completely different color piques my interest because it makes me wonder if you are completely human." A hint of curiosity in her eyes accompanied her words, he noted that it was the first time he had seen any emotion that wasn't at least partially negative flit through her face.  
Back to the subject, Kakashi felt flabbergasted at the conclusion she had made about his unusual chakra color. He had never come across that little scrap of knowledge that different hues of chakra could be related to the species of the bearer. Then again, his only comparison up until now had been the Kyuubi's chakra. However, the subject of his new discovery on his ancestral background was not something his tired mind even remotely wanted to think about at the moment. So he tried to brush off her curious eyes.  
"I think you might be a little mistaken, I'm quite sure I'm as genetically human as any other person in this village.", Kakashi chuckled good-naturedly, rubbing the back of his head. The statement obviously didn't satisfy the dragoness if the disdainful raise of an eyebrow said anything. He didn't care about her opinion or belief about his family's genealogy however, because right as she opened her mouth to reply, he waved a hand to the door next to them. Thank heaven for small distractions.  
"Apartment 206, your new abode during your stay in Konohagakure. Enjoy.", he dryly announced, motioning for her to unlock the door and enter. She huffed and pursed her lips at his obvious evasive change of subject. Nevertheless, she took the keys from the land lord and after a quick second of deliberation, put the second key on the ring in the hole below the doorknob. It twisted easily and she opened the door warily.  
The room was completely dark and it took Kakashi a second of fumbling around in the dark before he found the light switch. Warm light flooded the room as the tan colored walls were illuminated. It appeared that the apartment was at least sparingly furbished. A small coffee table rested in front of a modestly sized couch, which proved to be dark green color though it was obviously worn down from it's fraying seams and the deep indents where one would sit. Kaminari wandered slowly through the area, peering into an adjacent kitchen that housed a scratched up refrigerator and rustic oven. Though she had no idea what those devices even were.  
However, the space had a nice color scheme that suited her. The tiles in the kitchen were a dark wooden pattern that matched the fuzzy gray carpet of the living room. Tan walls that were the hue of a walnut encased the entire space, including the cabinets except where the back of the oven met the fan above it.  
"Maa, that's not fair. I didn't even have a couch when I started renting from Hoshibi-san." The scarecrow's quiet musing interrupted her inspection of her new living quarters. He stood in the middle of the living room pouting at the green piece of furniture. She decided not to reply to his comment, seeing as she would probably never use the couch anyway.  
"This space is mine to use as I wish?", she asked distractedly, walking over to stand by the piece of furniture. Kakashi glanced up at her and nodded, his body relaxed as he watched her move around. "Yes it is. Within reason of course, any renovations would have to go through Hoshibi-san before being done of course."  
Kaminari sighed and released the tension from her muscles, despite his presence. This place would become her safe haven, a location where she could go to recover, relax, or simply hole herself away from the world. Even during her years in the war, her fellow dragons had realized that she liked her space and would leave her alone during times of recovery. She had created many niches in caves and even dug out tunnels in the ground to give herself her own quarters during the times that her group of warriors were called to mobilize and fight. And now, she was quite happy to take this apartment and make it her own.  
"I am only allowing you to see this because of the jutsu that binds us and because of our agreement to become more genial to each other. I assume that you will need to check on me at certain times to appease your leader, however, I ask that you keep certain things to yourself.", she addressed the scarecrow in a business-like manner, a clawed finger trailing down the fabric of the couch leisurely. A glance his way showed that she was questioning if he would allow her such privacy.  
He was startled at the sudden terms she asked. The dragoness had been staring into space for a few minutes, with him just awkwardly hovering in the living room, so her abrupt words were unexpected. "I will have to inform Hokage-sama of anything that could be dangerous to the village, but other than that, yes I will keep your secrets to myself.", he answered her truthfully.  
After several seconds of her staring at him, possibly deliberating if he was indeed trustworthy, she nodded and raised a hand to the seals on her arm. A flash of the same golden chakra from before left him amazed as several large and small objects began releasing themselves from her seals. A comfortable looking wooden chair appeared, along with a elegant writing desk to accompany it. Several ornate chests and a full size wardrobe followed soon after. Finally, the last object to appear was a curious wooden object. All appeared to be quite old, if the carvings and style were anything to go by.  
Kakashi simply stared at amazement as she finished unsealing the furniture and then began rummaging through a chest that appeared to have clothing. She had explained that dragons in times of war usually kept their personal possessions upon themselves in the form of seals, but actually seeing someone completely furnish a room in less that two seconds was still astounding. It also showed the level of fuinjutsu mastery the dragons must have had to kept such a large amount of items in a seal and for such a long time.  
"That was certainly interesting.", he commented weakly, eyeing some of the objects warily. A lesser shinobi might have started touching some of the furniture in amazement and curiosity, but he restrained himself at the thought of Kaminari becoming irate again. No doubt he wouldn't win any favors by examining her belongings.  
Kaminari didn't even look up from the chest at the comment. The seal she had just used was common enough in dragon teachings that she could draw it in her sleep. She graced the scarecrow with the reply, "It's simple enough if one has the chakra to put into it."  
She finally had the clothes she wished to change into when she straightened back up and looked towards him. The desire to bathe and go to sleep had finally overcome her after eating and filling her stomach for the first time in many years.  
"Where do you humans bathe? I assume there is a nearby stream or hotspring?", she asked him in a no-nonsense fashion. She would bathe in the same water as humans if it meant getting clean again. Though she was never one to be vain, being covered in dust since awakening was causing her skin to itch.  
Meanwhile Kakashi was sighing internally after getting over the shock of being asked that question. 'She doesn't know what a shower is... Kami help me.'


End file.
